First Click: Xbox One S review, Windows 10 update, Galaxy Note 7, and more in the week ahead

August 1st, 2016

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Tuesday, August 2nd is Windows 10 day with the release of Microsoft’s first major OS update. The so-called Windows 10 Anniversary Update is a free upgrade, coming almost exactly a year since Windows 10 debuted on July 29th, 2015. New features include Windows Ink, Edge browser extensions, and improvements to Cortana.

Tuesday’s also the day that Microsoft will begin selling its Xbox One S in “select regions.” The $399 2TB launch edition is 40 percent smaller than the original and most notably includes 4K / HDR video support. It’ll go on sale alongside a new $59.99 Xbox wireless controller with textured grip and Bluetooth connectivity. We'll have our review up soon.

Samsung’s holding a Galaxy Note 7 launch event on Tuesday as well. The Note 7 is expected to have a dual curved display like the existing Galaxy S7 Edge, and feature a secure iris scanner hinted at by an iris-like graphic in the invitation.

On Thursday, August 4th, DARPA will host the world's first, all-machine hacking tournament in Las Vegas. The Cyber Grand Challenge, according to DARPA, "will mark the culmination of an ambitious three-year effort to develop advanced, autonomous systems that can to detect, evaluate, and patch software vulnerabilities before adversaries have a chance to exploit them." It’s timed to start just as the DEV CON 24 hacking conference gets underway in the same Vegas hotel and conference center.

We’ll be publishing our This Is My Next pick for our favorite record player this week, and put in some hands-on time with GM’s NASA-developed RoboGloveYou can also expect another in our series of Mr. Robot hack reports, and a review of the latest from British art-pop vets Wild Beasts. In gaming we’ll have thoughts on both Batman: The Telltale Series Episode One set for release on Tuesday, and Mobius Final Fantasy being released on Wednesday. And with any luck, we’ll end the week with a test drive of the McLaren 570GT.

But that’s all yet to come. First let’s get caught up on the weekend that was.


  1. Tokyo Thrift: This Sharp Zaurus is a sleek pocket computer from 1999

    It’s often said that Japan was slow to smartphones, with tens of millions of flip phone users long unconvinced of the benefits of iPhone and Android. It’s less often pointed out that those flip...

  2. Uber is selling its China business to dominant local rival Didi Chuxing

    Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing is taking over Uber's local business in a deal valuing the combined company at $35 billion, Bloomberg and Recode report. Didi is also said to be investing...

  3. A skydiver jumped out of a plane at 25,000 feet without parachute — and survived

    Luke Aikins is a skydiver who is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association, and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3. Last night, he became the first...

  4. Why you won’t see Marvel’s TV characters in its films

    Marvel’s Cinematic Universe covers the big summer blockbusters as well as their offerings on Netflix and regular television. Speaking to SlashFilm, Marvel Television’s president Jeph Loeb threw...

  5. Harry Potter’s journey has come to an end with The Cursed Child

    Billed as the eighth Harry Potter story, The Cursed Child officially opened on London’s West End last night, while a copy of the script is now available in bookstores. According to J.K. Rowling,...

  6. Arrested Development’s creator has recut its fourth season into 22 new episodes

    When Netflix brought back Arrested Development for a fourth season in 2013, it looked different. Each of its fifteen episodes focused on a different character, ran just over half an hour, and took...

  7. Justin Bieber turned down $5 million to perform during the RNC

    Canadian singer Justin Bieber was offered $5 million to perform during the Republican National Convention, according to TMZ, but only passed after his manager threatened to quit. Bieber...

  8. Waze’s new feature will remind you not to leave your child in your car

    Navigational app Waze might help give you directions on the road, but it’s now poised to help with a real problem: children left in hot cars. The company has introduced a new feature designed to...

  9. How to be human: "It's just this one thing with how we communicate..."

    Leah Reich was one of the first internet advice columnists. Her column "Ask Leah" ran on IGN, where she gave advice to gamers for two and a half years. During the day, Leah is a Senior User...

  10. The Verge review of animals: the frigatebird

    These cloud-riding birds can fly for months at a time at over 13,000 feet, without stopping to rest and catch their breath. Frigatebirds are badasses of the sky. The tropical bird that can make...

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